What vitamins do I really need...?

Jun 28, 2017

I am a very scientifically minded person and I apply that philosophy (if you want to call it that) to every area of my life. Since I am having VSG surgery in August I have been researching what vitamins I need to take. I see people using so many different vitamins on the forums & in Facebook groups. The ones I see people recommending the most are Flintstones vitamins (yes like the ones you took as a kid), gummies (saw a lot of the prenatal ones) or the vitamin patches. So me, being the scientifically minded person I am, started looking into what the vitamin requirements for someone having VSG actually are. Well the most reliable source I found was from Johns Hopkins Medicine. See link here. According to that link this is what we need after VSG:

1. Multivitamin
   • Iron - 36mg - 200%
   • Folic Acid - 800 mcg
   • Thiamine - 3mg
   • Copper - 2mg
   • Also should contain selenium and zinc
   • DO NOT take gummies! - They will not have everything you need
   • Need chewable or liquid first 3-6 months. After 6 months soft gels or capsules recommended.
2. Calcium
   • Calcium citrate ONLY
   • 500-600 mcg 3x/day
   • DO NOT take gummies! - They are not calcium citrate & aren't absorbed well.
   • Need chewable or liquid first 3-6 months. After 6 months soft gels or capsules recommended.
   • Must contain vitamin D
3. Vitamin D3
   • 3,000iu
   • Need chewable or liquid first 3-6 months. After 6 months soft gels or capsules recommended.
4. Vitamin B12
   • 500 mcg sublingual (tablet or liquid) - daily; OR
   • 1,000 mcg sublingual (tablet or liquid) - every other day; OR
   • 500 mcg nasal spray - weekly; OR
   • 1,000 mcg shot - monthly

Using these guidelines it was VERY hard to find vitamins that fit all of those requirements! From all of the popular suggestions I had read in groups & forums none of those met these requirements. The one that was the most disappointing to me was the patches. I was really hoping using a patch would be a viable option for me because I have had issues with multivitamins and nausea while taking them in the past so I can only assume that problem would still be there for me after VSG.

From what I have researched I have concluded that, for me, the proof that these patches work just isn't there. There are some vitamins that ARE transdermal (able to be absorbed through the skin) but there are many that are not. The only study I saw where patches worked was in this study for vitamin D. That study is also mentioned in this article I found on a bariatric surgeons site which also has some interesting insights. Probably the most interesting article I found came from the Unjury site (yes, I know they make vitamins and therefore may be biased). You can read about it here. Long story short, according to the label information & using molecular weights, the weight of the patch should be >3,600 mg; however the patch only weighs ~80 mg. That is a problem to me. It's also an easily repeatable/verifiable test and if I had the money to waste I would do it myself but since those patches aren't cheap I won't be doing that. I have to buy all the vitamins that I'll actually be needing to take for my own surgery in August. But if you do use the patches try it out and let me know what you get!

Speaking of the cost. I found vitamins I could use and figured out the total cost of them by day, month & year. Yes. I am a nerd. These are the vitamins I will be using:

1. Multivitamin - $19.99
2. Calcium - $24.00
3. Vitamin D3 - I am going to buy a 2,000 iu & 1,000 iu to take since I couldn't find a straight 3,000 iu tablet
   • Vitamin D3 2,000 iu - $11.96
   • Vitamin D3 1,000 iu - $9.49
4. Vitamin B12 - $8.56

• Daily cost: $1.76
• Monthly cost: $52.67
• Yearly cost: $640.86

So these vitamins are definitely NOT CHEAP. When I add up how much it's going to cost me up front to buy all of these vitamins it's about $75. I know it's worth it.

I am disappointed that I can't use those prenatal vitamins I have sitting in my kitchen cabinet though! Oh well. I want to make sure I have what I need.

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